This Week: Christ our Sanctifier Today I want to talk with you about Christ our Sanctifier and here s how I m going to start

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Bertina Mitchell
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1 Sermon Series: Jesus, My Everything 1 Corinthians 1:30 & selected texts Jesus, My Everything: Sanctifier Pastor Phil Christiansen : November 16th, 2014 Big Idea: The abundant life God has for us is only found through complete surrender to Jesus as our Sanctifier. 1 Last week we started a new series that focuses on who Jesus must be in the life of every believer if we re going to experience the fullness of life that God designed us to have. And to do that, we re digging into what it means to have Christ as our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. We re talking about what it means to have Jesus as our everything. Last time we talked about Christ our Savior and how only Jesus can save us. We discussed how sinful people are reconnected with God through the atoning work of Jesus on the cross (1John 2:2). That He paid the death penalty that we deserved for our sin. We also talked about how, at the moment of salvation, you are justified (Rom 5:1) and God says that you re not guilty. You are pardoned for your sins (Eph 1:7) and you receive the righteousness of Jesus as your own (1Cor 1:30). You are born again (Jn 1:12-13; 3:3; Tit 3:5-6). You are given a new life and made a new creation (2Cor 5:17). You are adopted into God s family (Eph 1:5) and made co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to take up residence within you (indwelling you), marks and seals you as God s own (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22, 5:5) and sets you apart for Kingdom service (Acts 1:8). Together we were reminded, There is no other name...by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). I also want you to know that at least three people trusted Jesus as their Savior last week, which is a HUGE praise and worthy of celebration! Whether you trusted Jesus last week or 50 years ago, today s message is crucial if you re going to have the life the God wants for you. This Week: Christ our Sanctifier Today I want to talk with you about Christ our Sanctifier and here s how I m going to start How many of you like to go to Costco and enjoy the little samples that they hand out? My youngest son, Noah, loves the samples. That kid will ask to participate in a three-hour errand run marathon if he knows that Costco is one of the stops.

2 2 Stores that do the little tastes are geniuses, aren t they? They give you a little bite and then tell you where the whole product or meal can be purchased. I know some people (who shall remain nameless) that go to Costco and troll around from sample to sample, tiny taste to tiny taste, with the hope of satisfying their appetite. No, I don t want a whole meal, I ll just have a sample. Well, here s where I m going with this Too many Christians live that way in their spiritual lives. They get connected with Jesus as their Savior and that savor every bit of it which is good! They fully embrace what it means to be forgiven and made right with God. But that s where they stop. They re completely satisfied with just getting a taste of what God has for them. For some reason, too many Christians are content to receive Jesus as Savior, but never go on to receive Him as their Sanctifier. Because of that, many Christians miss out on the feast that He has prepared for them that is full of flavor, variety and overall tasty-goodness. I know the story is silly, but the kind of life that God built you to have, the Christ-life, is the best life, but it s only experienced when we know Jesus as both Savior and Sanctifier. Please don t misunderstand me; we have every reason to be satisfied with the finished work of Jesus on the cross. He is Savior. What I m trying to convey is that what God gives us at salvation is just the beginning of the good stuff He has for us. Sanctification Defined So, let s talk about sanctification. Let s talk about what it means to be set apart from sin and set apart to God (1Pet 1:15-16 & Rev 1:6). Let s talk about what it means to enjoy this life as fully as possible because we not only have the life of Jesus in us but Jesus living His life through us. Remember, when God created humanity He had a great plan in mind for us, but sin ruined it. He wants to restore the fullness of that life. He wants to re-create us to be the people that He built us to be. Since we re no longer slaves to sin, but to God (Rom 6:22), all that God has to offer is awaiting us. That s what I want to dig into today! To start, you need to know that at the moment of salvation you are positionally sanctified because of what Jesus has done for you (1Cor 1:2). 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (emphasis mine). This emphasizes the completeness of the sanctifying work done in us through the work of Christ and the presence of the Spirit. You have been set apart from sin. It s done! (see also Acts 20:32; 26:18) Everything that happens in the rest of your Christian life is anchored to the heart-renovation that happened the instant you were connected with Jesus whether as a 4 year old at AWANA or as a 75 year old at a worship service. Sadly, this is where many Christians start and stop

3 3 with God. We ll talk about that more in a minute. As new believers we must learn how to live into what Jesus has for us. We must learn how to say, No to self and say, Yes to Jesus. While we may be new in Christ our daily lives haven t yet been made new. You may be new, but your life is still being renovated and that s what God wants for us (Gal 5:16-17). We must learn how to take what we know is true about Christ in us and allow that come to life in our day-to-day experience. It s not intended to be a burden and it s not intended to be a grind. But this is where things can get tough for so many Conflict & Crisis Let me explain. Whether you came to know Jesus as a child or later in life, the thinking often goes like this: God has been so good to me. He died for me. He rescued me. He made me His own. He promised me eternal life in Heaven. I am going to live for Him every day. I m going to read my bible. I m going to share my faith, go to church every Sunday, and attend small group Bible studies throughout the week. I ll serve at my church. He died for me I ll live for Him. (Think Gal 3:3). And that sounds great! Until, one day, you realize that you re exhausted. You don t have the strength to do all that you want for God. You are busy and you re bummed because sin still invades way too much of your life. You realize that you don t have the power to keep going. Your joy is waning. Guilt holds you prisoner because you re not living up to your promises. The reality that you cannot live this Christ-life in your own strength drops on you like an anvil. Sound familiar? This internal conflict isn t unique to you. Believers of every age and stage sometimes wrestle and wonder, Who s in charge of my life? Is it me? Is it Jesus? Is it Jesus in me? I thought I could live for Christ, but I can t. I don t have what it takes. It s at that point that some people walk away from Christ. I hear stories like, I tried that once, but I couldn t do it. Church (or Jesus) isn t for me. You need to know something: self-propelled Christians cannot experience the abundant life that Jesus has for them (1Cor 3:1-4) because we cannot shape ourselves to look like Jesus any more than we can save ourselves. The only way it can happen is if we invite Jesus not only to be our Savior but our Sanctifier as well. Only then will we experience the life that God wants us to have. This is the point where we refer to sanctification as a crisis experience. By crisis, I don t mean a dangerous situation, but a decisive choice, an intentional decision. When you begin to think, Unless Jesus does something in me, I have no hope or chance of living the godly life He s called me to, that is the fork in

4 4 the road. Will you continue to rely on you or will you call on Christ? The Christian who calls out to Jesus and basically says, I can t do this without you. I have no ability to live the godly life in my own strength (Rom 12:1) has just made the jump to light-speed. That is what we call crisis sanctification. At that point, the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit has been with the Christian from the instant of salvation, indwelling, marking and sealing as God s own, but to be filled with the Spirit is to allow the indwelling Spirit of God to take control over every area of your life! Being filled isn t like filling a cup to the top or being controlled like a puppet. Being filled by the Spirit is like having every pore of your being saturated with the presence and power of God. We are persons and the Holy Spirit is a person. We are submitting ourselves to the gracious control of the Spirit to live in us the life of Jesus (Wuest, K.). Ephesians 5:18 talks about staying away from the saturating influence of alcohol being drunk and instead being saturated, influenced & controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is when the Christian is delivered from the sense of self in the sanctification process, instead choosing to lean into the Holy Spirit to do the work in them. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit within them, but not every Christian experiences the power of Jesus at work in their life. Progressive Sanctification This is when being set apart to God really takes off and Jesus begins to live His life through you. You are sanctified and you are being sanctified in your day-today living. You are cooperating with the leading of the Spirit in your life, denying yourself and appropriating the life of Jesus within you. In this way, sanctification is progressive. It s an ongoing, daily choice to stay connected to the life-giving power of God. Fruitfulness in relationships and ministry are easy to see. As you stay surrendered to the Holy Spirit, the power of sin loses its grip on you. Guilt evaporates because there s victory over sin and you have the strength of Jesus when temptations come your way. It is solely because of Christ s victory over sin on the cross that we can have victory in our daily lives. It is only because of the resurrection life of Jesus within us that we are capable of enjoying the abundant life that God intends for us (John 10:10; Rom 12:2). Now, it may go without saying, but I want to be clear: I m not talking about perfection here I m talking about direction. I am not saying that your life will be flawless from the moment you invite Jesus to be your Sanctifier. There will still be times of struggle and failure. There will be seasons of victory. We will have days where we gladly yield to the leadership of Jesus. There will be other days when we re total butts: stubborn, proud and willful. But don t despair, that s why you rest in the work of Jesus in you instead of in your own strength (Rom 7:23-25). It s never been about your best it s about His best in you!

5 5 My Story Let me help you know what I mean by the crisis and process of sanctification by sharing part of my story with you. I came know Jesus when I was a senior at Chico State. I had just been elected president of my fraternity, not because of my terrific leadership skills, but because I was the biggest lush in the house. I was on a choir tour of Eastern Europe & the Soviet Union when I understood that my life was empty and only Jesus could fill the void that I d tried to fill with girls, booze and drugs. When I came to know Jesus as my Savior I was thrilled! I felt like I could breathe for the first time! My good buddy was there to help me understand what had happened when I prayed that evening in my hotel room. When the tour was over a week or so later, I had to return to my life back home. I was a new guy in Jesus, but my old lifestyle was waiting for me. I was determined to live my life for Christ and I did my best to do so. But after I broke up with my live-in girlfriend and moved into the fraternity house as president, things got really tough. I moved right into the Lion s den. I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I was trying to live my new life in Jesus but my fraternity brothers weren t making it easy. They were constantly pushing booze, drugs or women at me. My old life was trying to push out the new life I d found. I was only a couple weeks into the semester and I was already struggling. Some of you may wonder why I didn t just quit the fraternity and walk away. The simple answer is: That s not how God wired me. I finish what I start. I made a commitment to lead that group of men and I was going to do it! And God knew that. And I knew that I would never be able to live the Jesus-life unless God did something amazing in me. I remember thinking that I needed to either go deep or I was going to waffle in my faith. I remember being in my room, trying to find a safe place to be, when I said, Lord, you re going to need to do this in me or it s never going to happen! That was my crisis moment. Jesus was so kind to me. He filled me with His Spirit and gave me a deep love for people who were far from Him (like my fraternity brothers and my family). He gave me new power over sin and helped me to be sober for the first time in years. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit definitely meant something to this fraternity boy. I knew what it was like to be controlled by other things and yielding control to the Spirit was such relief! He led me to the Alliance church I mentioned last week so I could grow in worship and the Word. I took an evangelism class so I could learn how to share

6 6 my fledgling faith. He was growing me like crazy! I was able to share the Gospel with a couple of fraternity brothers who returned to Christ or gave their lives to Christ for the first time. After fraternity and graduation, God led me to some great, godly roommates, who ministered to me and helped me continue to grow. God used me to witness to my dad and let me be with him the night he was saved. Slowly and intentionally, the Holy Spirit began to shape me to look and live more and more like Jesus. I tell you what, I m so glad I wasn t satisfied with just a sample or tiny taste of what Jesus wanted for me. I m glad that I asked for Him to do what only He could do, even though I didn t understand it at the time. I hope you know that I m not bragging about me. I want brag about Jesus! Please know that I don t do this perfectly. There are plenty of times when I blow it. Just ask my wife and kids. Some days I am cooperative and other days I feel like I ve lost my mind. BUT that doesn t change my standing in Him. Those rough days remind me that I m still in process and that His death, resurrection and ascended life are still being worked out in me. My job is to stay surrendered and connected. He does everything else! Let me share with you what I pray almost every day: Lord, use me however you want today. I want what you want. I am yours. That may sound simple but, for me, it s a reaffirmation that Jesus is in charge and I am not. When I try to grip it, I goof it. But when I yield to the Spirit, allow Him to saturate every part of me, and lead me my life overflows! Even in the painful parts of life, when the Spirit is leading, life is good! Does that help you to better understand the crisis and process of sanctification? The Holy Spirit s Role in Sanctification I ve been talking about Jesus being our Sanctifier but I ve also talked about the Holy Spirit. So what, specifically, is the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification? Here s what Samuel Stoesz, pastor and professor in the Alliance, says about the Holy Spirit s role: Since the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son and His ministry is to reveal and apply what the Son has provided for us in the atonement, the Holy Spirit is not an additive to Christ, but has come to glorify Christ in and through the believer (Stoesz, Sanctification: An Alliance Distinctive, Christian Publications, PA. p61). The Holy Spirit takes all that Christ has for you (as you stay surrendered to Him) and applies it to your life. The feast I spoke of at the beginning, God s very best life for you, takes root, grows and blooms because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He does this by bringing the life of Christ to life in us. Christ Jesus has

7 7 become our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1Cor 1:30). He convicts us of sin (John 16:8-11), is the source of our regeneration (John 3:3-6; Tit 3:5-6) and the one who locks us into God s family (Acts 1:5; 1Cor 12:13). The Holy Spirit fills us and is allowed to assume control over every area of our lives (Eph 5:18). When that happens, He is also the one who empowers us for ministry (Acts 1:8), gives us strength to resist sinful desires (Gal 5:16) and is our source for godly fruit (Gal 5:22-24) like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit brings the life of Christ to dwell in us (2Cor 3:17). The Holy Spirit awakens us to God s desires in us. The things that make God s heart beat fast, begin to make ours beat fast. The things that Jesus loves we grow to love. The things He hates, we learn to hate. His concerns concern us. The very person of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, lives in you to shape, mold and make you so the He can live His life through you! That s why our best efforts to sanctify ourselves can never work. Our job is to stay yielded & connected. If you must know what you do in the sanctification process, here it is: [hands up!] This is the international sign of surrender. Do that! I surrender to whatever you want to do in me, through me, for me, with me. I am yours! That s the essence of Romans 12:1-2 isn t it? Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. You stay surrendered and connected. Want to be sanctified? Some of you are nodding as if to say, That s what I want! Maybe you re realizing that you ve never actively sought Jesus as your Sanctifier you ve always thought of Him as your Savior. He is! But He wants to be your sanctifier, too. If you desire to be sanctified, here are four words for you to consider: Thirst (John 7:37), Ask (Luke 11:11-13), Surrender (Rom 6 & 12), and Abide (John 15). If you are thirsty for more of Jesus, then ask Him and He will fill you with His Holy Spirit. Your job is to stay surrendered, in every way, to the leadership of Jesus and to rest, stay connected, abide in Him. Jesus said it clearly, Apart from me you can do nothing. Isn t that amazing? Jesus does it all. We just cooperate. For those of you who would like to know more about how to be fully set apart to God, there s a prayer guide that I ve included at the end of my manuscript online. Friends, God has so much more for you and me than just little tastes, little samples, of abundant life. God has amazing plans for us that are only available as we surrender to Jesus as our Sanctifier and allow the Holy Spirit to activate

8 8 the life of Christ within us. Your job is to stay surrendered and connected to Him moment by moment in your day. Only Jesus can save you. Only Jesus can sanctify you and give you the overflowing life that you were built to enjoy (John 10:10). Tender hearts, courage to act, Christ s life evident in the lives of our church.

9 9 What keeps some people from being sanctified? (From John Soper s video study on the Fourfold Gospel.) I think some people won t experience Jesus as Sanctifier because they didn t know there was more available to them in Jesus than salvation. They re ignorant. [Ignorance] (Hopefully that s being taken care of in this message!) Another reason people aren t sanctified is because of fear: Don t send me to Africa! They re afraid that God will call them to do something that would embarrass or wound or cost them their lives. As you would expect, sin can prevent us from experiencing God s very best. We can grieve the Holy Spirit by holding onto our sin and refusing to surrender any given area of our lives (Eph 4:30). The first three may seem obvious, but the fourth one forced me to pause. Complacency or apathy can get in the way of our enjoying abundant life of Christ. I like where I am. I m comfy here. Sadly, there are too many Christians who just don t care to have more of Christ. Prayer Guide for Sanctification If you want to be fully set apart from sin and set apart to God, you can use the following as a prayer guide (Thanks to Mike Saunier from the C&MA for this excellent resource): Contrition: Father God I am in despair. I am at the end of. Confession: I know I am not controlled by your Holy Spirit. I realize that my flesh is in control because. Invitation: Please come into my life and take full control. Unless you come in and take over I am useless and without hope. I have tried to be a Christian, to be a witness, a worker, an apologist and persuader but it doesn't work. I need you to come and take over. Take over right now. Surrender: I yield to whatever you determine the Holy Spirit is to accomplish in my life. I give my thoughts, my talents, my abilities, my motivations, my health, my possessions, my all, everything to you without reservation or protection, design or self-determination. Do with me as you will, You are the potter, I am the clay. Faith expectation: In yielding to you, seeking your face, asking for your person to be known in my life, I believe that you will do what you have promised to do. I accept your promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the command to be Holy as a representative of what you long to see accomplished in your children's lives. I now accept your life as mine, your

10 10 strength for my weakness, your fullness for my emptiness, your will for my indecision, your values for mine in spending time, energy, money and influence, your passion in what I love to do, your wisdom in my counsel, your understanding in my judgments, in short... your life in me. Gratitude: Thank you for hearing and answering my cry for help. Thank you for accepting me in my weakness and emptiness. Thank you for filling up this simple vessel with the substance of your life and strength. Thank you for taking my life from the hopeless storm to the strength of the mountain. Church of the Foothills 2014

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